


I Don't Believe Them

by Littlemouse_04



Series: Only Slightly Shitty [6]
Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Imaginary Friend, M/M, Oneshot, Supernatural - Freeform, ghost - Freeform, kind of?, slight insanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 10:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14259204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlemouse_04/pseuds/Littlemouse_04
Summary: Even if nobody else has seen you with your best friend doesn't mean they aren't real, no matter what they say.





	I Don't Believe Them

**Author's Note:**

> Pete was meant to be a ghost and shit... it isn't very clear. He can also just be a figment of Patrick's imagination- whatever you prefer.

It was on one of the rare nights out that Patrick met Pete.  
He had been coerced into actually leaving the house for once and going to a gig a few towns over with two people from band who Patrick wasn't particularly close with but often talked about music with just because their tastes were the least awful out of all the other members.  
Really, it was no surprise they didn't notice when he inevitably retreated into a corner by himself. Too many people put him on edge.

His solitude didn't last long as it was only about six minutes before a short dude (who was still taller than Patrick) came bounding over to him, grinning and still dancing, more like flailing, to the music.  
"Dude! You should be out there! This band is so friggin _awesome_!"

"Really, I'm ok. Not really my thing but the drummer is really impressive. Like, you can feel the beat all around, y'know?"

This spurred a lengthy conversation about the impact a good drummer has on a band and how all the elements of a song work together to control a crowd.

"You're actually pretty cool. Wanna get out of here? I know a super cool diner nearby. They have the _best_ fries this side of Chicago."

And from then on, Patrick had a new friend.

============================

As a kid who didn't really _click_ with many people, finding Pete was like a dream come true. Their minds just kinda fitted together, balancing one another out. Patrick was an incomplete jigsaw that just found a missing piece and man did it feel good.  
Yeah, he had friends but just from the three times he'd seen Pete, it was like he had known him his entire life- like a piece of Patrick's brain had manifested into a guy in girl jeans.

They went out into the woods near Patrick's house one night.  
The dead leaves crunched underfoot as they mindlessly wandered around, occasionally throwing out whatever thought popped into their heads into the space between them.  
"If another species had our intelligence, would they have made as much of a mess of the world as we did?"  
"Which would win in a fight, a barracuda or a polar bear?"  
"What is the best way to die?"

It was nice. Comfortable.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner at my house. My parents are always on my back about me never having any friends over so, you up for it?"  
"Ah, shit, man. I can't, I'm really sorry. My schedule is chocablock for the foreseeable future. Again, really sorry."  
"Nah, it's fine I guess."

And it was forgotten.

Patrick forgot about Pete's apparently full schedule when they went out twice again that week.

=============================================================

"Joe, you have to meet my friend Pete. He is _so_ cool, you would love him!"  
\----  
"No, mom, I'm not lonely. Me and Pete go out like, every week! I invited him to dinner but he was super busy so he couldn't. You will meet him at some point, I promise."  
\----  
_"I won't be home for dinner, I'm going out with Pete"_

_"Sorry dude, I can't play video games tonight. Pete is taking me to a gig we have been planning for ages."_

_"Don't wait up, I will be home late. It's ok, I'll be with Pete."_

_"Can we move the study session to tomorrow? Pete asked to go out."_  
=================================================

Strangely, they never went to places with lots of people. They only ever went to gigs where people were too caught up in the music to notice anyone else, or on walks late at night, or all night diners where the waitresses were so tired and bored that they were unlikely to notice anything that was going on in the restaurant. Pete only ever came to Patrick's house when it was guaranteed nobody else would be home.

If Patrick ever suggested they went for coffee or to, I don't know, a music store to discuss all the latest records, Pete would tense up and suggest yet another band Patrick _had_ to see, or just changed the topic entirely.  
Eventually, Patrick just stopped asking.

This was also the case whenever Patrick tried to introduce Pete to Joe or his mom. Once, Patrick and Joe were waiting for Pete near a bar where they were going to see a band play, and Pete just never showed up.  
When the shorter boy saw him the next day, he just said something had come up at work, "I'm really sorry, it won't happen again, I swear."  
There was never a chance for it to happen again because whenever Patrick was even thinking about mentioning his one other friend or his family, Pete swooped in with a question about Prince and Patrick's attention was lost once again.  
===================================

Two months ago, Patrick was akin to a recluse- never leaving his room and rarely speaking apart from the obligatory greetings to his family or sometimes hanging with Joe playing Mario Cart.  
Now, Patrick was almost unrecognisable- going out nearly every night and never shutting up about 'Pete', the 'best guy in the world'. Really, he sounded obsessed.

This hadn't escaped Patrick's mother. She had always been introduced to all of Patrick's friends, even if they only met once or twice. She always had an idea of what they looked like, their personality, who their parents were and then some indication of where they lived in case Patrick ever visited. Joe was like her second son!  
But... Pete. Patricia had never met him which seemed absurd due to the sheer amount she heard about how great he is from her son.

It was nice Patrick had made a friend, but it felt as if she was losing her son to a stranger.  
==============================================================

Joe had gotten used to the fact that he was kind of Patrick's only friend. It was nice having someone he could always call on to hang out, do homework with, or trust to help him in general. He had lost count of the times where Patrick had let Joe copy his notes or had partnered with him on a group project (and Patrick did most of the work).

The boys had had a sort of routine.  
Talk at school.  
Go to Joe's for video games and Pizza.  
Talk on the phone for three hours every Saturday discussing music or the cool new guitar that had come into the music store, or Joe's new crush, or _whatever_.  
Go to a gig a couple times a month.

It had been nice- always having someone there.  
But now Patrick was always blowing him off to go and meet with some guy who apparently swept him off his feet almost immediately and had now been demanding all of Patrick's attention for the last four months.  
Joe couldn't help but resent this 'Pete' guy- and he'd never even met him.  
==============================================

Pete had introduced Patrick to so many new feelings. Before Pete, he had never snuck out in the middle of the night, he had never had a mini food fight in the back of an empty cinema, he had never camped out in his room for three days just watching films and chilling out with a friend. He hadn't had deep conversations well into the night about his purpose on earth, humanity, the future, death.  
It was all new to him, and all thanks to Pete.

It was as if he became a new person. Patrick felt immensely happier after meeting Pete and he just couldn't get enough of him; he rarely stopped thinking about him.

In a way, though he went out a lot with a friend, and experienced so many new things a typical teenage boy experienced, Patrick had become _more_ reclusive. He didn't really talk to his family, he didn't mingle with friendly acquaintances like he used to, he didn't hang out with Joe. If he wasn't out with Pete, he was holed up in his room...thinking about Pete.

But he was happy. And that was enough for him.  
===============================

It was no secret that Patrick wasn't very experienced in the whole 'romance' area, only having had two girlfriends in his seventeen years of life, and one encounter with a boy that hadn't really ended well.

With Pete it was different. It felt like they were already a part of each other so it was no surprise when Pete had brushed his lips to Patrick's cheek. It felt...natural, almost.  
From then on, it was a sort of unspoken agreement that they were together. On their frequent night-walks, their hands would be latched together, occasional kisses being shared, and long embraces under the moonlight. Patrick was quite proud that he had suddenly fallen into a fairy-tale romance.  
============================================================================

"JoeJoeJoeJoeJoe! Pete asked me out! Oh my God it was so perfect! We were just hanging out like normal and he kisses me, right? And we are like, boyfriends I guess."  
Patrick only really talked to Joe at school now, so it was weird for him to be sprinting towards Joe like he used to. Joe had just been hanging out near the coffee shop when Patrick had come thundering over like a concentrated ball of happiness.  
Even so, Patrick had never talked to Joe about relationships, always preferring to let Joe talk while he listened so seeing him so readily talk about getting a boyfriend (!!!) was odd. Especially because it was 'Pete' who Joe had yet to meet.

"Hey, we haven't hung out in a while. Let's go to the comic book place and we can catch u-"  
"Oh! There's Pete! Bye!"  
And Patrick was running off again like Joe didn't even say anything- too caught up with his new boyfriend. Though, when Joe looked up, he didn't see whoever Patrick was running to.

=============================================================================

After two more months of innocent touches and kisses, they found themselves home alone in Patrick's bedroom. Pete was sat on his bed with Patrick sat on his lap talking about how much of an ass his maths teacher was (" _Why do I even need to know fucking quadratic equations? Teach me taxes!_ ")

"You're cute when you're frustrated."  
Patrick just blushed, ducking to peck Pete's lips, but when he went to pull away, a hand was curling around the back of his neck and pressing his face closer.

The temperature in the room was stifling as their kisses became more intense and they both became lost in the thralls of lust and passion.

It was all new to Patrick, but it excited him when he was flipped on his back and Pete was hovering over him, looking ethereal as he towered over the younger's flushed body.

Neither of them wanted to let go of each other so they just melded further.

It was already as if they were one mind. Becoming one body wasn't that much of a reach.

Yet another thing to add to the list of new experiences, all thanks to Pete.  
==============================================

"I think I love him, mom."  
====================

Patricia didn't know what to do. Her son was alien to her. Her little boy was a shell and seemed so plain now. He used to be so vibrant, caring, opinionated, sweet. He had always spent time with his family and been a good boy, not staying out too late and asking permission before going over to Joe's house.  
Now she never sees him. He is always just 'out' with someone.  
When she _does_ manage to get him to talk to her, it's always about 'Pete'- never anything else. If she asks him if he found any good music lately, he just responds with "Pete likes..." or "Pete showed me..."  
PetePetePetePetePete.

It scared her.  
Finally, she approached Joe. The boy who was always there for her son, who knew everything about him that as a mother, she didn't.

"I don't know what to do anymore Joe. All he talks about is this 'Pete' guy that I have never even seen. Just talks about how amazing he is and that he can't wait to see Pete or Pete had done this or that. He's never home anymore, never talks to me. He isn't the _same_! It's been seven months and I think I'm losing him, Joe, and I don't know what to do. Please, _please_ tell me that he is ok, that he is fine. Tell me is Pete is good to him, tell me everything! I wouldn't ask if I could see any other way of fixing it but he is obsessed with a stranger!"

When Joe told her that he had never seen Pete either, she broke down crying.  
==================================================

When Patricia told Patrick to invite Pete for dinner, he didn't even look up before saying, "He's busy. He doesn't want to."  
=============================================================================

When Joe mentioned Pete to Patrick at school, he just went glassy-eyed and a small smile appeared on his face. He didn't even reply.  
====================================================================================

"Pete will be here in a few minutes. I'm going out."

When Patricia heard the door close, she looked out of the living room window onto the dark street.  
All she saw was Patrick, walking down the street, smiling and chatting away, waving his hands animatedly... to nothing.  
That's the moment she became truly terrified for her son.  
===========================================================================

"Patrick, honey... can I talk to you? Come sit down."

Patrick turned his head slowly, before shuffling towards the sofa, a blank expression adorning his face. This was normal now. Ever since he had become trapped in 'Pete', unless he was talking about him, he was just... dull. No expressions, no ever-present glint in his eye. Nothing. It was like all remains of Patricia's son had been washed away- replaced by this obsessive creature.

"Well... I'm a bit worried about you. For a while now you haven't seemed to be yourself. You only ever talk about this 'Pete' character who nobody else had ever met and... I think he might not be real, sweetie."

Now, this seemed to get a reaction out of Patrick. For the first time in the better part of a year, there was a spark in his eyes. But he was angry. Quickly, he leapt from the sofa, shaking.  
"No. NO! Don't you DARE say Pete isn't real! He is my FRIEND and he is REAL because I can see him! He is real because I can hear him, I can feel it when he kisses me, when he holds my hand, when we make love...Love. I love him I love him I love him I LOVE HIM AND HE IS _REAL_!"

Patrick was clutching his head, screaming that he loved Pete and yelling at his mother- _How dare she say Pete wasn't real? _  
He collapsed to the floor, rocking, muttering, crying, and when Patricia tried to hug him he just fought and screamed again.__

__By this point, Patricia was too shocked to cry- her son had gone...insane! H-he had disappeared. _That_ wasn't her son! Her precious Patrick wouldn't ever do something like this! Her mind halted. _ _

___"When we make love."_ _ _

__No. That _wasn't_ her son. Her Patrick would never have done something like this, never have gone crazy._ _

__She called Joe.  
=====================================_ _

__When he arrived, he was met with an almost catatonic Patricia, too overwhelmed by the realisation the Patrick had all but lost his mind, and Patrick, rocking on the floor, muttering _"PetePetePetePetePetePete..."_ to himself over and over._ _

**Author's Note:**

> I don't bloody know. Surprise surprise, It's one in the morning and I am back on my laptop writing crap fiction with no _real_ plotline.
> 
> Un-betaed, unplanned, etc (as always)
> 
> I haven't read through it so constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> In my defence, if I get an idea, I obsess over it and, as someone who has little patience and no talent, that's very inconvenient. So... have some sub-par fanfiction.
> 
> Oh yeah! LEAVE PROMPTS IN THE COMMENTS (I promise I will do something with them at some point)


End file.
